Waratahs v Fijian Drua

[Stargazer]

MESAKE DOGE SET FOR POTENTIAL DEBUT | Fijian Drua

Swire Shipping Fijian Drua Head Coach Mick Byrne has named his squad for the round 13 crunch match against NSW Waratahs this Saturday, in what will be the side’s final away game in the 2023 Shop N Save Super Rugby Pacific. The major highlight is the first ever inclusion of Flying Fijians prop...

[Stargazer]

WARATAHS TEAM TO TAKE ON FIJIAN DRUA

1 Te Tera Faulkner (Southern Districts / Moorabin Rams / Marist College Canberra)

2 David Porecki (Manly / Manly Roos / Redlands)

3 Harry Johnson-Holmes (Sydney Uni / Cowra Eagles / Merewether High School)

4 Jed Holloway (Southern Districts / Yamba Buccaneers / Waverley College)

5 Hugh Sinclair (Northern Suburbs / Lindfield / SHORE)

6 Will Harris (Eastern Suburbs / Hunters Hill Juniors / Scots College)

7 Michael Hooper (Manly / Manly Roos / St Pius X College)

8 Langi Gleeson (Manly / Harbord Harlequins / St Augustine’s College)

9 Jake Gordon (Sydney Uni / Canterbury / Blackwattle Bay)

10 Ben Donaldson (Randwick / Clovelly Eagles / Waverly College)

11 Dylan Pietsch (Randwick / Leeton Phantoms / Kings School)

12 Joey Walton (Gordon / Warnervale Wildcats / Wadalba High School)

13 Izaia Perese (Randwick / Aspley State School / Anglican Church Grammar)

14 Mark Nawaqanitawase (Eastwood / St Patrick’s College)

15 Max Jorgensen (Randwick / Balmain Juniors / St Joseph’s College)

Replacements

16 Mahe Vailanu (Gordon / Melbourne Harlequins / Auckland Grammar)

17 Nephi Leatigaga (Randwick / Manurewa Rugby Club / Menurewa High School)

18 Archer Holz (Eastern Suburbs / Kings School)

19 Ned Hanigan (Randwick / Coonamble Rams / St Joseph’s College)

20 Taleni Seu (Southern Districts / Grammar Tech / Onehunga High School)

21 Charlie Gamble (Eastern Suburbs / Saracens / St Bede’s College)

22 Teddy Wilson (Eastern Suburbs / Harbord Harlequins / Kings School)

23 Harry Wilson (Eastwood /Harbord Harlequins / St Augustine’s College)

Players unavailable for selection:

Angus Bell – Toe (Season)

Daniel Botha- Foot (Round 14)

Jack Bowen- Shoulder (Round 14)

Lalakai Foketi- Ankle (Round 14)

Tane Edmed – Back (Round 14)

Tom Lambert – Knee (Round 14)

Will Harrison - ACL (Season)

Zac Von Appen – TBC

Zane Marolt – Fractured cheekbone (Season)

Waratahs Media  /  May 17, 2023

Team News – Returning Wallaby to strengthen the side for the clash against Fijian Drua

[NTA]

You'd think the Tahs are going to take this one.

You'd think

[KiwiMurph]

Good idea to have Wallaroos vs Fijiana as the curtain raiser.

[Duluth]

Tahs had to make a lot of tackles in the first 8mins

[Duluth]

That was pretty good by the Tahs. Loads of inside balls keeping them honest and then nailed the passes when they went wide

5-3

[nzzp]

@Duluth said in Waratahs v Fijian Drua:

Tahs had to make a lot of tackles in the first 8mins

Drua look very physical. Tough side to beat -a dn they are starting to ride some waves of penalties. Hooper's skating on very thin ice

[Duluth]

YC?

[nzzp]

Jeez, casual coathanger from Drua 7. Possible red?

[Stargazer]

Terrible coathanger. Definitely a card, but which colour will O'Keefe give?

[nzzp]

WTAF - only a penalty? I have no idea what the framework is any more.

[Stargazer]

Huh?

[Duluth]

SR refereeing getting further and further away from the rest of the world

[nzzp]

So I get
Yes, Yes and then an argument about whether it was moderate or high danger.

The 'off the ball' nature escalates for me. Plus the sheer stupidity - Hooper was so close to a card. Dumb, dumb dumb and then lucky.

Did anyone hear the justification?

[Stargazer]

@nzzp Not sure, but I think I heard O'Keefe say something like the arm hit the shoulder, so I assume that means there was no head contact.

[Duluth]

Nice pass Jorgensen

[KiwiMurph]

There's not much to the Drua attack offloads aside.

Perese offers little. Just tucks and runs ineffectively

[Duluth]

Hooper 5 missed tackles in that half. He had a few sloppy games on defence earlier in the season too.

[Stargazer]

Hmm, that Drua player being pushed into touch looked dodgy to me.

[Duluth]

Tahs have attempted 216 tackles, Drua 100. Tahs might fade in the last quarter